New Shooter -- Hello!

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Hi all,

My name is Tim. I have always been fascinated by guns and decided to make the leap into the hobby. As a kid, I shot .22LR rifles and 12 gauge shotguns in the boy scouts, however, I've never fired a handgun, until this past weekend.

I just completed my NRA Pistol Basic course and had a blast. I see this as a hobby that I can enjoy in the winter (I'm generally scuba diving in the summers) or when I'm not underwater.

This weekend, I experienced shooting a single action and a double action revolver in .22LR (I have no interest in owning a revolver at this time) and a Smith & Wesson .357/.38 -- this was fun, but I preferred semi-autos. As far as semi auto's, I experienced the Ruger Mk.II, Walther P22, Glock 19 and Springfield XD9. I liked the P22 a lot, but found that I didn't like the feel of these guns because of the trigger safeties.

After class, the instructor let me try his Sig Sauer 1911 Tactical which I thoroughly enjoyed. I found the recoil of the .45 to be more tolerable on the heavy steel gun than the polymer 9mm.

Now, I still have some research to do before I go out and purchase (need to get my firearms ID card -- yay New Jersey!) and need to get my family more comfortable with the idea of having a handgun in the house -- properly locked up in a safe, of course.

I'm not interested in owning a gun for self defense, only for going to the range for target practice. Therefore, it will live in a safe until I leave for the range, and will get cleaned, and locked back up.

I'll probably get a .22 to start, and eventually a 9mm or .45 down the road.

Hi and welcome ...might want to go straight to a 9mm and try a Sig SP 2022 in 9mm....or get a Sig 1911 .45 as your instructor had and also a conversion kit to shoot the same gun in .22 lr make practice and range shooting cheap and fun and still gives you a .45 for other things...........JJ

taking what you said for target shooting and not self defense then get a RUGER mkiii
go to their web site and see the different models - they have in this line the 22/45 which has a grip angle the same as a 1911
they well a lot with the bull barrel
i have the 22/45 bull barrel and love the target shooting
until you get all the shots in a tight group stay with the 22 due to costs, then step up to a full size 9mm when you are ready. (examples glock 34, beretta 92fs, 1911 in 9mm)
the 9mm ammo is the cheapest to afford of all the center fired pistol ammo - and quite versitile in bullet types and energy
also subscribe to the NRA -

New Shooter -- Hello!

Welcome from Oklahoma! Good luck in your gun hunt. Lots of great options out there in 9mm.

Steel-framed guns like the CZ 75B or the CZ 75 SP-01 make great range guns. They have fantastic ergonomics, great balance, are extremely accurate, offer a sweet DA/SA trigger and are typically less than $500.